The production of poly(arylene sulfide) polymers for a variety of industrial and commercial uses is known. The use of poly(arylene sulfide) polymers has been found to be desirable due to the high chemical, temperature, and electrical resistance of the polymers. U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,177 describes a commercially useful method for preparing poly(arylene sulfide) polymers, however, the process of preparing poly(arylene sulfide) polymers has been further developed to provide polymers having improved properties and in some cases more specialized uses in industry.
For example, poly(arylene sulfide) polymers have been used to produce fibers and monofilaments. Poly(arylene sulfide) polymers produced according to conventional processes often present problems when spinning the polymers into fibers or monofilaments. Problems faced include fiber and filament breakage, poor color of the resulting fibers or monofilaments, and die face fouling as well as poor spinability of the polymer itself. Certain of these problems are caused by the presence of volatile components in the polymer, such as low molecular weight poly(arylene sulfide) (i.e., oligomers), unreacted monomers, salt by-products, and the like. Other problems are due to the lack of oxidative stability or melt stability necessary for the processing at elevated temperatures for extended time periods employed in making fibers or monofilaments. It would therefore be desirable to achieve a process for the production of a poly(arylene sulfide) polymer that could be spun into fibers and monofilaments without the attendant problems listed above.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a process for the production of poly(arylene sulfide) compositions having lower amounts of impurities and volatile components.
It is another object of this invention to provide a process for the production of poly(arylene sulfide) compositions demonstrating good oxidative and melt stability.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a method for preparing a poly(arylene sulfide) composition useful for producing fibers and monofilaments.